The G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting (ACWG) is held in Moscow on February 25-26, 2013. On the second day of the meeting, it was addressed by Ksenia Yudaeva, Chief of the Presidential Experts Directorate and the Russian G20 Sherpa.

Ms. Yudaeva reminded that fighting corruption has been an issue for the G20 for a long time. "Although the working group was only established in 2010, corruption issues were raised in different forms at the very first G20 summits because they are directly linked with the G20 mandate, which is to restore balanced and sustainable economic growth. But this cannot be accomplished without fighting corruption," Ms. Yudaeva said.

She added that this year the OECD will analyze the connection between corruption and economic situation per the working group's request. "Russia as this year's president of the G20 welcomes this initiative, which has been in fact agreed on at the ACWG meeting," the Russian Sherpa said.

Ksenia Yudaeva also reminded the delegates that a Complex Anti-Corruption Plan was adopted during Mexico's presidency last year. It comprises 14 provisions, including a provision on countering bribery and money laundering and on denial of entry to the G20 countries for corrupt officials and those who corrupt them.

The working group is currently focused on implementing this plan and additional tasks dealing with Russia's four new initiatives. The first one provides for launching special anti-corruption training courses for officials. Another initiative is aimed to enhance cooperation on legal issues aimed at overcoming obstacles in the sphere of information disclosure. "There are mechanisms of anti-corruption cooperation in place, but they are not operating smoothly enough," Ksenia Yudaeva said. "Major delays in information exchange hinder anti-corruption investigations."

The third initiative looks into fighting corruption in the sphere of privatization. It is particularly important for Russia, where an ambitious privatization program has been launched recently. The President of the Russian Federation instructed the relevant officials that this new stage of privatization must be transparent and produce fair results. Finally, the fourth initiative provides for fighting corruption during preparations for large spots events, primarily at the stages of government procurement and construction.